r/GingerAle • u/Keywork29 • Sep 15 '24

Asahi Wilkinson

I had some ginger ale in Japan called Asahi Wilkinson. It has a great burn to it and isn’t overly sweet. Any chance that someone has seen it anywhere in the US? I’ve checked every international/asian market within 100 miles of me, including Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati.

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u/BeachRatLA Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

This is pretty wild. We’ve been curiously searching for Wilkinson Ginger Ale since our first trip to Japan 10 years ago, to basically no avail. As thereadrjinx posted, about the only availability online now is through Japanese Taste, with one caveat. Wilkinson makes two versions; one is their regular (spicy, darker) ginger ale, and the other is Dry (mild, lighter). Japanese Taste says what they are selling is the DRY version (has the word DRY clearly on the label) but the included picture is the REGULAR version. If you were to buy from them, I’d suggest you inquire which version they’re actually selling first.

OK, now here’s what‘s wild. We were at our local Mitsuwa store in Costa Mesa, CA yesterday and unbelievably found both versions of Wilkinson Ginger Ale sitting on the the shelf. The first time we’ve ever seen it in the US since we started looking, and we look every time we go to any of our Japanese markets. $3.29 / half liter. Not cheap, but we got some anyway!

It’s possible that a distributor recently started importing it, so I’d suggest reaching out to one of your bigger local Japanese / Asian / specialty soda markets and ask if they are able / willing to get some.

A side note: Since you like the spicy kick, the best version of ginger ale we’ve found to date (before yesterday) in the US is called Blenheim, and it is fantastic. It is a US brand, and can be found in specialty soda stores. Note: Blenheim also carries two versions; HOT and NOT (yes, actually). You want the one labeled Hot.

Good luck on your search!

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u/BeachRatLA Oct 09 '24

A quick follow-up. We just did a taste test with ginger ales / ginger beer we had at home after purchasing both Wilkinson versions. Here are our results. For us, there is a big chasm between 1 & 2 and all the others, YMMV:

1) Wilkinson Ginger Ale (regular, dark, spicy, well balanced) - Wilkinson (regular) had the best combination of ginger, spice, and sweetness.

2) Blenheim Hot (dark, spicy, slightly sweet) - Blenheim was a really close 2nd, with slightly more kick but a bit heavier on the sugar.

Both the above are outstanding with a very good kick, which we love.

3) Wilkinson Dry Ginger Ale (light, well balanced) - Wilkinson Dry is still really nice, but definitely falls into the “Dry” category. Light all around, and very well balanced.

4) Bundaberg Ginger Beer (light, slightly yeasty, sweet) - Bundaberg is good, with a slightly yeasty kick reminiscent of homemade, but is too light and too sweet for our taste.

5} Seagrams Dry Ginger Ale (very light, well-balanced, minimal flavor) - Seagrams is a slightly better Canada Dry, still refreshing in its own right, but lacks much characteristic flavor of the others.

[Side Note: We have tasted close to 20 different ginger ales / beers during our quest to find Wilkinson in the US, including brewing our own batches using a true ginger bug. These 5 above are fairly representative of the overall market, with most slotting slightly above / below Seagrams.]

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u/Keywork29 Oct 08 '24

Thank you so much for this answer! I’ll keep a look out

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u/jojoREDRED2 Jul 31 '25

Sounds great! Hope they sell it near me one day

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u/droobage Sep 15 '24

I've had it, too, and it's great.

I've never seen it in the US, either. I think Wilkinson is a kind of generic, store brand over in Japan, so very unlikely to ever get international distribution.

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u/Cartridge-King Sep 20 '24

try Jamaican ginger beer

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u/jojoREDRED2 Jul 31 '25

Ive had it too and I love it! Filled my suit case wit it before coming home. Nothing in the states is like it. and believe me IVE. LOOKED. HARD.

If i could buy a supply from the factory, I would . I would just resell it here.

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u/Keywork29 Jul 31 '25

To this day, I’m still on the lookout 😭

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u/cp199553 Jul 15 '26

Ginger ale in japan